Yo-yo doll

ABSTRACT

A DOLL WHICH CAN EITHER WALK OR MOVE ONE OF ITS ARMS UP AND DOWN TO SIMULATE OPERATION OF A YO-YO OR PADDLE BALL. A MOTOR DRIVEN MECHANISM MOUNTED ON THE LEGS HAS AN OSCILLATING BAR WHICH CAN BE COUPLED TO SWAY THE TORSO SO AS TO CAUSE THE DOLL WALKING, AND CAN BE UNCOUPLED FROM THE TORSO TO PIVOTALLY OSCILLATE ONE OF THE DOLL&#39;&#39;S ARMS SO THE ARM APPEARS TO OPERATE A YO-YO.

Feb. 23, 1971 p, LEvELAND ET AL.

Yo-Yo DOLL Filed MayV 5, 1969 3 l sheets-sheet 1 l #fraz/vif lFebxzs,1971 DRCLEVELAND ETAL 3,564,7'63

YO -YO DOLL Filed May 5. 1969 :a sheets-sheet 2 )so if f iff@ L i Il 'S452 A,

'mmv l D. P. CLEVELAND ET AL Feb. 23, 1971 YO-YO DOLL 3 Sheets-Shet 5Filed May 5. 1969 f Z V I M@ fw, Mm n a United States Patent O 3,564,763YO-YO DOLL Dale P. Cleveland, Torrance, and Thomas R. Wilson,

Manhattan Beach, Calif., assignors to Mattel, Inc.,

Hawthorne, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 5, 1969, Ser. No.821,767 Int. Cl. A63h 11/00 U.S. Cl. 46-120 7 Claims ABSTRACT F THEDISCLOSURE A doll which can either walk or move one of its arms up anddown to simulate operation of a yo-yo or paddle ball. A motor drivenmechanism mounted on the legs has an oscillating bar which can becoupled to the torso to sway the torso so as to cause the doll walking,and can be uncoupled from the torso to pivotally oscillate one of thedolls arms so the arm appears to operate a yo-yo.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This inventionrelates to motor driven toys, and more particularly to a ligure toywhich can walk and perform arm movements.

Description of the prior art One type of walking doll employs a framepivotally mounted on the doll legs and carrying a motor that drives anoscillating bar. The oscillating bar is connected to the torso to swayit back and forth, which causes the doll to take steps and thereforeperform a walking movement. This apparatus, which provides a very simpleand economical walking doll, is described in patent application S.N.513,380 filed Dec. 13, 1965 and hereby incorporated by reference. Thedoll could be made even more interesting if the other appendages (armsand head) could also be made to move in a lifelike manner or perform aninteresting functional movement. However, the limited space availableand the necessity for keeping the cost as low as possible generallyprevents the inclusion of additional mechanisms for performing suchmovements. If a simple mechanism were available for coupling theoscillating bar of the walking mechanism to one of the appendages tomove it in an entertaining manner, such additional doll movements couldbe incorporated without substantially increasing the price of the doll.

OBIECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of the present inventionis to provide a doll which can walk and/or perform movements of its armsor head, and which is simple and economical.

Another object is to provide a simple mechanism for coupling anoscillating bar to a doll arm to pivot the arm up and down.

In accordance with the present invention, a simple Walking dollmechanism is provided which can also drive the arms or head of a doll ina lifelike manner. The driving mechanism includes a frame supported onthe doll legs, and an oscillator bar pivotally mounted on the framewhich can be coupled to the torso to sway it back and forth, and/orcoupled to the head or arms to pivot them. In one embodiment of theinvention, one of the doll arms is pivotally mounted for up and downmovement, and has a hand adapted to hold a yo-yo-like member to simulatea child operating a yo-yo. The oscillating bar has an angled slot in itthat engages a pin on the arm shaft. A manually operated lever can bemoved to one position to couple the oscillator bar to the torso, so thetorso sways and the doll walks. The operating lever also 3,564,763Patented Feb. 23, 1971 ICC BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is aperspective view of a doll constructed in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the doll of FIG. 1 showing thetorso section with the front cover removed;

FIG. 3 is a partial front view showing the oscillator bar of themechanism shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a rear View of the front torso housing;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional side view of the doll of FIG. l;

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional rear view of the torso section of the dollof FIG. l;

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional front view of a doll constructed inaccordance with another embodiment of the invention, wherein the dollsarms alternately swing back and forth; and

FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view of another embodiment of theinvention, wherein the doll operates a paddle ball.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 illustrates a doll witha torso 10, legs 12, 14 and arms 16, 18. The doll torso includes adriving mechanism which can sway the torso and head thereon from side toside to allow the legs to alternately raise above the ground. The legsare supported on the driving mechanism so that they pivot forward eachtime they are raised above the ground, to cause the doll to take aforward step and thereby walk. The arms are pivotally mounted on thetorso, and one of the arms 16 has a support shaft which can be coupledto the torso driving mechanism so that it pivots the arm up and down inthe direction of arrows at 20. The hand 22 is fashioned to hold one endof an elastic string 24 whose other end is joined to a disc 26representing a yo-yo. As the dolls arm pivots up and down, the yo-yodisc bounces up and down between the hand and ground to simulate a childplaying with a yo-yo. A switch on the rear of the doll can be operatedto change the doll between an off state, a walk state wherein the dollwalks but its arm 16 does not pivot, and a yo-yo state wherein the dolldoes not walk but its arm pivots up and down. The dolls hand 22 isformed so that, as shown in FIG. 9, it can hold a paddle 11 with a ball13 coupled thereto by an elastic string 1S instead of the yo-yo, tosimulate a child playing with a paddle ball.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 2-7, the driving mechanism 28 includes aframe 30' on which are mounted leg couplings 32 and 34 that are attachedto the legs 12 and 14. An electric motor 36 powered by batteries in abattery case 38 drives a gear train including a gear 40 with an offcenter pin 42. An oscillator bar 44 has one end pivotally mounted at 46on the frame and an opposite end portion 48 which is free to pivot about46. A slot 50 in the oscillator ibar receives the olf center pin 42 toenable the pin to pivot the bar back and forth. An actuator member 52 iscoupled to the torso housing to resist sideward movement, as will bedescribed below, although it can move forward and backward in thedirection of arrows 54. When the actuator member 52 is moved in therearward direction toward oscillator bar 44, a rear lug 56 on theactuator member engages a slot `58 in the oscillator bar. This couplesthe oscillator bar 44 through the actuator member 52 to the torso sothat both of them sway sidewardly together. Thus, when the lug 56 isengaged in slot 58, the oscillator bar 44 drives the torso from side toside, thereby causing the doll to walk.

The actuating member 52 can be moved in a forward direction, so that thelug 56 disengages from the slot 58 in the oscillator bar. This frees thebar to pivot from side to side relative to the torso, so that the torsodoes not sway and the doll does not walk. In order to assure fulloscillating movement of the bar within the torso, the frame 30 of thedriving mechanism should be fixed to the torso when the oscillator baris not coupled to it. This is accomplished by a lower lug 60 on theactuator member, which engages a slot 62 formed in the frame to fix theframe against swaying sidewardly with respect to the torso. With thetorso xed to the driving mechanism frame 30 so that the oscillating bar44 pivots to a maximum eX- tent within the torso, the oscillations ofthe bar can be coupled to the arm 16 to pivot it up and down.

As shown in FIG. 4, the housing of the arm 16 is fixed to an armature 64that is mounted on an arm shaft 66. A pair of bearings 68 and 70 on thedoll torso pivotally support the arm shaft. A driving pin 72 is also xedto the arm shaft to receive driving forces from the oscillator bar 44 topivot the arm up and down. The oscillator bar has an arm driving slot 74at its upper end which is angled about 45 from the direction of movementof the outer end of the bar. The angle is chosen in accordance with theamount of arm movement desired. The driving pin 72 on the arm shaft isengaged with the arm driving slot 74. As the bar 44 pivots from side toside, the walls of the slot 74 move the pin 72 up and down, therebycausing oscillatory pivoting of the arm shaft 66 and the arm 16 mountedon it. Of course, the arm will not pivot unless the oscillator lbar 44is moving from side to side relative to the torso. When this occurs, theoscillator bar generally is not moving the torso from side to side in asubstantial amount and therefore the doll is not walking. Accordingly,in one mode of operation, when the oscillator bar pivots relative to thetorso, all of the power from the motor 36 of the driving mechanism isused to pivot the arm 16 up and down to simulate operation of the yo-yo.On the other hand, when the oscillator bar 44 is fixed to the torso, bymoving the actuator member 52 rearwardly into the bar, the bar does notmove relative to the driving pin 72 and no up and down oscillation ofthe dolls arm occurs. In -this case, al1 of the power from the drivingmotor is used to sway the doll from side to side to cause it to walk.

The actuating member `52 is slideably mounted in a slider bearing 76,best shown in FIG. 5, that is mounted on the front portion 78 of thetorso housing. The actuating member is mounted so that the lower lug 60protrudes downwardly from the bearing, to enable it to engage the slot62 of the driving member frame when the actuating member is in theforward position. Movement of the actuating member v52 forward andbackward is accomplished by operation of a control lever 80, and is bestaccomplished when the motor is on. As shown in FIG. 2, the control lever80` is pivotally mounted at 81 on the battery case 38, which is in turnmounted on the rear portion 82 of the torso housing. A pin 84 at theupper end of the actuating member is engaged in a slot 86 of the controllever. An operating end 88 of the control lever protrudes through a slotin the rear of the torso housing. When the operating end of the controllever is moved in the direction of arrow 90, the walls of slot 86 in thecontrol lever pulls the pin 84 to the rear. This moves the actuatormember 52 to the rear, causing the rear lug 56 to engage the oscillatingbar 44 and thereby cause walking movements of the doll. When theoperating end 88 of the lever is moved in a direction opposite to arrow90, the actuating member is pushed forwardly so that lug 56 disengageslever 44, while bottom lug 60 er1- gages the slot 62 -in the drivingmechanism frame. The 0scillating lever 44 is then free to pivot fromside to side and drive the arm shaft pin 72 to pivot the arm 16 up anddown. In order to better guide the activating member 52 in back andforth motion, a pair of guides 92 are formed near its upper end, thatengage a guide slot 94 formed at the top of the battery case.

As shown in FIG. 7, the operating end 88 of the control lever can bemoved between three lateral positions designated on the case. One ofthese is the off position wherein the electric motor is de-energized,another is the walk position wherein the oscillating bar is coupled tothe torso to sway it from side to side for doll walking, and the thirdis the yo-yo position wherein the oscillator bar is free to pivotrelative to the torso so the dolls arm pivots up and down. Control ofmotor energization is accomplished through a pair of electricalconductors 96 and 98 which are electrically connected in series withbatteries within the battery case and with the driving motor. One of theconductors 96 is a resilient member which is biased toward an upwardposition wherein its end 100 is away from the end 102 of the otherconductor. However, when the operating end 88 of the lever is moved fromthe off position to the walk position, it deects the conductor 96downwardly so that its end 100 contacts the end 102 of the otherconductor. When the operating end 88 0f the lever is moved even furtherto the yo-yo position, it continues to downwardly deflect the conductor96 into electrical Contact with the other conductor. Thus, at anyposition to the right of the off position, the motor circuit iscompleted and the motor operates.

The oscillator bar can be used to perform doll movements other thanmerely moving one arm up and down. One other movement is to swing botharms back and forth, which can be accomplished by the mechanismillustrated in FIG. 8. The mechanism of this figure is identical Withthe apparatus described above, except that an additional end portion 104is provided on the oscillator bar 44A, the end portion 104 being coupledthrough a pin 106 to a shaft 108 on which the other doll arm 18A ismounted. When the bar 44A pivots from side to side, both arms 16A and18A pivot up and down, or back and forth depending upon the initialorientation of the arms. Other doll moving mechanisms can also beemployed which can be driven by the oscillator bar when it is uncoupledfrom the torso. If it is desired to pivot the arms while the doll iswalking or takes steps in place, a mechanism can be employed whichcouples the frame to the arms to move them, while the bar is xed to thetorso to pivot it.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variationsmay readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it isintended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications andequivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. A doll comprising:

a torso;

a pair of legs;

driving means including frame means coupled to said legs, oscillator barmeans mounted on said frame means, and means for moving said bar meansrelative to said frame means;

a doll arm;

means for coupling said oscillator bar means to said doll arm, to movesaid arm when said bar means moves relative to said torso; and

means for selectively coupling and uncoupling said bar means with saidtorso.

2. The doll described in claim 1 wherein:

said means for coupling and uncoupling said bar means with said torsoincludes means for uncoupling and coupling said frame with said torsowhen said bar means is coupled and uncoupled, respectively, with saidtorso.

3. The doll described in claim 1 wherein:

said means for coupling said bar means to said doll arm comprises shaftmeans pivotally mounted on said torso and coupled to said arm to pivotsaid arm when said shaft means pivots, and a pin mounted on said shaftmeans; and

said bar means includes walls dening a slot engaged with said pin andextending at an angle with the direction of movement of said bar means.

4. The doll described in claim 1 wherein:

said means for moving said bar means is constructed to move said barmeans laterally toward either side of said torso;

said bar means includes walls deining an aperture;

and

said means for coupling and uncoupling said bar means with said torsocomprises a member having lug means, said member slideably mounted tomove substantially forward and backward with respect to the front andback of said torso to engage and disengage said lug means with saidwalls of said aperture.

5. In a walking doll with a torso, legs, arm and head appendages, whichincludes a mechanism mounted on the legs and having a member driven tosway the dolls torso from side to side, the improvement comprising:

means for coupling said member to a rst of said appendages to move it.6. The improvement described in claim 5 wherein: said means for couplingcomprises rst means for selectively coupling and uncoupling said memberwith said torso, and second means for coupling said member to said firstappendage to move it when said member moves relative to said torso. 7.The improvement described in claim 6 wherein: said first appendageincludes an arm, a shaft pivotally coupling said arm to said torso, anda pin on said shaft; and said second means comprises walls defining aslot in said member, which is engaged with said pin on said shaft.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,171,125 2/1916 Jones 46-119X3,452,473 7/ 1969 Convertine 46-119 3,462,875 8/1969 May 46-120 LOUIS G.MANCENE, Primary Examiner D. L. WEINHOLD, JR., Assistant Examiner U.S.C1. X.R. 46-116 Disclaimer 3,564,763.-Dale P. UZeveZam, Torrance, andThomas R. Wilson, Manhattan Beach, Calif. YO-YO DOLL. Patent dated Feb.23, 1971. Disclaimer filed Apr. 30, 1971, by the assignee, Mattel, I nc.Hereby enters this disclaimer to claim 5 of said patent.

[Oficial Gazette August 17,1971]

